Tuesday

Feb 13, 2018 at 10:29 PMFeb 13, 2018 at 10:29 PM

One of the first dispensaries to be operational in southeastern Pennsylvania, TerraVida Holistic Centers co-owner Chris Visco said more than 300 patients have been consulted already, and the first shipment of marijuana should be available Saturday.

Bucks County’s first medical marijuana dispensary officially opened Tuesday night, one of only six dispensaries now open statewide. The center is expected to begin dispensing marijuana by Saturday.

It is not only one of the first operational dispensaries in southeastern Pennsylvania, the location is the first female-owned medical marijuana company in the state. Chris Visco, co-owner of TerraVida Holistic Centers LLC, said employees at the 64 N. Main St. dispensary have already consulted with about 300 patients eager to receive the medication Pennsylvania legalized in 2016.

While the center is currently open, only one Jefferson County grower, Cresco Yeltrah, is ready to deliver to dispensaries beginning Thursday, according to a news release from Gov. Tom Wolf.

“We are just so moved by the stories that we hear each and every day from the patients we talk to,” Visco said Tuesday. She added one of the youngest patients expected to receive medical marijuana is a 7-year-old child with brain cancer, who will use a particularly "aggressive" hemp-oil for treatment.

Only patients registered with the state's medical marijuana program and with a prescription from a doctor will be able to purchase medication at the dispensary, which will be operated under the regulations set by the state. The dispensary, which only had mockups of its products at the opening Tuesday, is located in a former law office next to the Sellersville Fire Co. No. 27 building.

The building is secured by an alarm system and inside patients are greeted at a window, much like when they go to a doctor's visit. Sellersville did not pass any specific zoning to allow the dispensary, instead classifying it in the same way it does a pharmacy. The dispensary will be open Monday through Saturday with varying hours.

State Sen. Daylin Leach, D-17, who co-authored the bill that became the state’s medical marijuana program, helped owners Visco and Adina Birnbaum open the dispensary Tuesday.

“I can’t tell you how almost surreal this feels,” said Leach, who represent parts of Delaware and Montgomery counties, before the ribbon cutting.

Leach said his earlier attempts to legalize medical marijuana were difficult to find co-sponsorship in Harrisburg, let alone get approved by the General Assembly.

“This is not only going to have a huge benefit for patients, but it’s a whole new industry for Pennsylvania that’s going to bring tens of thousands of jobs, hundreds of millions of dollars. … This could not be a happier day and I’m thrilled to be a small part of it here,” Leach said.

TerraVida was one of 10 companies awarded dispensary permits on June 29 by the state’s Department of Health.

Each permit allows a company to open up to three locations, and Visco said a location in Abington, Montgomery County, and one in Malvern, Chester County, could open as early as next month.

The company initially planned to open a dispensary in Philadelphia's Mount Airy section, but the site was moved to Malvern after the company was unable to find a suitable location, according to a CBS Philadelphia report.

The Malvern dispensary is off state Route 202 on state Route 30, and the Abington site is at 1626 Old York Road.

Former Philadelphia Flyer and medical marijuana advocate Riley Cote attended the opening to answer questions about the plant’s medicinal uses. He said medical marijuana has been beneficial not to treat just physical ailments but also improve mental health.

While the Sellersville dispensary was the first in Bucks County, it will not be the only one.

Franklin Bioscience — Penn LLC plans a center in Bristol Township and Holistic Pharma, LLC has said it will bring a center to Bensalem.

"Welcome to Sellersville," Mayor Thomas C. Hufnagle said as he cut the ribbon Tuesday.

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